Wednesday, May 28, 2014

Blessings from the past few weeks

We have been in England for six weeks. As I look back on the past six weeks, I see many ways that God has lead and provided for us.

I mentioned the cottage in the country. That was God providing -- we needed a place to stay closer to where we would be living and on a Thursday we inquired and it was available. We later learned the cottage is normally completely books March to October.

We came to the city for two days to look for a place to rent. I had been spending many evenings online looking at properties. We had a preferred area but finding a house in that area in our budget was a challenge. We were considering that we might need to be in another part of town but that would take us away from the students. We had two places to look at when we came for the visit. The first one was okay but it was above our budget and really not in the best condition. The next one we felt that it was the place as we were driving to it. We drove past the church that had been recommended. It was in the area where we wanted to be and below our budget. We can see the bus stop from the upstairs window. There are a few stops nearby. God provided.

I was beginning to feel discouraged about all the furniture we were having to buy. A teammate called and said a friend of her sister's had to get rid of some furniture. We were given two sofas, a computer desk, and a wardrobe.

I don't think I have ever been to a more welcoming church. As we considered churches in this area, there was one that was recommended. It is large for UK standards and we have been told one of the best churches in the north. We have found the people to be very friendly and welcoming. I took Bob to youth group and the leaders had heard about us. The finance manager for our team attends the church and they have been telling everyone about us. We were invited to Sunday lunch last week at the home of a couple that do international work here. We feel at home after just a few weeks. It is just a 10 minute walk from our house.

There are two home school families at the church. One of the mums called me last week and we chatted and then this week we went for a visit. She is about two minutes from the church in the opposite direction. We had a lovely visit. She has a 13 year old boy and a 9 year old daughter with a few others in the mix.

We have found people here to be very friendly. We had had people on the street ask if we needed directions. I asked someone yesterday if he knew where a street was and he looked it up on his phone.

We are blessed in so many ways and see how God has prepared this place for us.